William a



(Hommel.) f Y W. A. BRISTOR.

` SHOE.

No. 296,518. Patented Apr. 8, 1884.

WITJVEBSES.

Unire Sterns nfrnrir einene VILBIAM A. BRSTOR, OF INDANAPCLIS, INDIANA.

SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,518, dated April 8, 1884.

Application filed December 18, 1883. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may con/cern,.-

Be it known that I, VILLIAM A. Bnis'ron, of the city of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my said invention is to produce ashoe which shall combine the pliability of a hand-made turned i shoe at' the toe or front portion with the rigidity of a machinemade shoe at the shank and heel portions, whereby certain advantages both in quality and cost of production are secured, as will be presently described. This object is accomplished by first preparing the sole and upper in the same manner as when they .are to be served and turned by hand, and then sewing them together from the toe bach along'both sides of the ball. Then, instead of continuing the sewing by hand, the. shoe is turned, a steel shank and a half-insole inserted, and the remainder' of the stitching done by machine in the same manner that the sewing is done in ordinarymachine-made shoes.

Referring to thc accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and on which similar letters oi' reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view oi' a shoe embodying my invention, a portion of the up- `per being broken away to show the interior,

Fig. 2, a longitudinal section, on an enlarged scalo, or the sole of the shoe; Fig. 3, a crosssection on the dotted line e z; Fig. 4, a crosssection on the dotted line y y, and Fig. 5 a perspective View ofthe shoe when the construction is so far advanced that the shoe is ready to turn.

ln said drawings, the portions marked A represent the sole of the shoe; B, the inner half-sole; C the shank, and D the upper. The sole A is first secured to the upper B by arow of hand-stitches, a, While the shoe, so far as completed, is wrong side out, as shown in Fig. 5. The shoe is then turned, the ordinary shank C, the half-insole B, and the counter D are placed in position, and the several parts are secured together by the row of machinestitches Z). The whole sole is then usually covered by an ordinary lining, (not sbown,)

5o and the shoe finished inthe ordinary manner.

Itis, as is Well known, very desirable that the ball o'r front' portion of the sole be flexible, both because a iiexible sole is more durable and because it is easier on the foot of the wearer, Itis also desirable that the shank 5 5 and counter shall be strong and stiff. Heretofore vthe flexibility of the ball and rigidity 'of the shank and counter could not be conlbined satisfactorily, for the reason that a shoe stitched entirely by hand before turning` can- 6o not be provided with a steel shank at all, and the counter must be lighter than desirable. The consequence is that hand-made shoes of this character are easily broken down77 in the instep, and run over77 at the heel. A 65 shoe wholly machine-made must have an insole extending entirely to the toe, and consequently the ball of such a shoe lacks the desired flexibility, besides which the` stitches, being nearer the center, are apt t o hurt the feet of the wearer, which the handmade stitches, being at the extreme edge, will not do. By hand-stitching only around the ball of the sole and then turning the shoe and completing the process of manufacture in the manner described the ball is left iiexible and the shank and heel are made as stili and strong as is desired. By this construction it is also rendered possible to use a heavier sole when desirable than has been possible with ordinary hand-made turned shoes, and, it being only a single sole of the better quality of lea ther used for outer solves it is much more du rable than the heavier double soles employed in machine-made shoes. Besides producing a superior article, the cost of manufacture is also materially lessened, as hand-stitching is much more expensive than machinestitching.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The process of making shoes which consists, first, in stitching the ball of the sole and toe of the upper together While wrong side out, then turning the shoe, then placing the 95 insole, shank, and counter in position, then completing the stitching and afterward finishing the shoe in the ordinary manner, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a shoe, of the sole roo A, the upper D7 the rear halffnsole, B, the shank C, and counter D, said severaparts being constructed, arranged, and secured together substantially as shown and speeied.

5 3. A shoe the forward portion of which is stitched together by :L row of stitches at the outer edge of the sole, and the remaining portion of which is stitched together by a row of stitches nearer the center of the sole, both 1o said seams being inside the point where the sole and upper come together, substantially as WILLIAM A.' BRrsToR. [L s] In presence of- E. W. BRADFORD, GHAs. L. TI-IURBER. 

